Syria Conflict

Regime forces surround army post of Turkey

AFP, Beirut

Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said yesterday that Turkish troops will not quit a military observation post in northwestern Syria where they are surrounded by government forces.

“We are there, not because we can’t leave but because we don’t want to leave,” he told a news conference in Lebanon, denying that Turkish troops had been “cut off” by a government advance into the jihadist-ruled Idlib region.

Earlier, Syrian regime forces overran a string of towns and villages in the north of Hama province, including the town of Morek, where the Turkish observation post is located, Syria’s state news agency SANA said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that “regime forces have surrounded the Turkish observation post in Morek” after the advance.

Cavusoglu acknowledged that “there are clashes in the Idlib region”.

“Regime forces are conducting activities around our observation post,” he said , adding that the issue was being discussed with Damascus allies Russia and Iran.

But “our observation point there is not cut-off and nobody can isolate our forces and our soldiers,” he added.

Rebel-backer Turkey has carried out two cross-border offensives into Syria, where its forces have been deployed for nearly two years.

The observation post in Morek is one of 12 the Turkish army set up along the front line between government forces and the jihadists and their rebel allies last year.